ENABLE PLUNGE
PUNTERS have plunged on super-mare Enable after she was handed a decent draw in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
The five-year-old will break from stall nine of 12 when she bids for an historic third victory in Sunday’s thriller.
Bookies saw a flood of cash for John Gosden’s brilliant mare yesterday after she avoided being drawn widest of all.
Coral cut her to a red-hot 4-6 favourite.
Spokesman David Stevens said: “Punters clearly believe the biggest factor against Enable completing the Arc hat-trick was an unfavourably high draw, and with only 12 in the field on Sunday that threat has largely been removed, so they’re happy to back her at odds-on.”
Enable became the eighth dual winner of Europe’s premier middle-distance contest last season, and was kept in training as a five-year-old with the chief aim of becoming the first horse to win the race three times.
While she endured a troubled preparation last term, the current campaign has been faultless as she has stretched her top-level tally to 10 with a hat-trick of Group One wins in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, the King George at Ascot and the Yorkshire Oaks at York.
The Khalid Abdullah-owned star is an odds-on favourite to claim what would be a momentous success at Longchamp under Frankie Dettori.
Enable will be flanked in the starting stalls by the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair of Magical and Japan.
Irish Champion Stakes winner Magical, who will be ridden by the trainer’s son Donnacha, is in stall eight, with her Juddmonte Internationalwinning stable companion Japan in 10 under Ryan Moore.
All 12 remaining entries stood their ground at the final declaration stage, and Charlie Appleby’s Ghaiyyath, who was so impressive on his latest appearance in Germany, is widest of all in stall 12 under William Buick.
Paddy Power spokesman Paul Binfield said: “Not too many horses win a top-class race by 14 lengths, but Ghaiyyath will have to be absolutely exceptional to win from the car park draw of 12 of 12 against the likes of Enable and young pretender Japan.”
Jean-Claude Rouget’s Prix du Jockey Club hero Sottsass is widely considered the chief hope for the home team, and he is drawn right against the inside rail in stall one.
Rouget has a second string to his bow in the supplemented Soft Light, who is in six.
Andre Fabre relies on Waldgeist (stall three) as he bids to add to his record tally of seven Arc wins.